Semi-nude truck passenger involved in Florida school bus crash

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO Fla. (Reuters) - Investigators in North Florida were trying Wednesday to figure out whether a nearly naked woman riding in a log truck was a factor in a Monday crash that sent seven children and three adults to the hospital. "Some people are thinking sexual encounter but it very well could be just as innocent as her getting some rest" in the sleeping berth at the back of the truck, Dylan Bryan, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol, said Wednesday. The woman, Sherry Ford, 34, was a passenger in the semi-tractor trailer as her husband, Shannon Ford, 35, drove into a school bus that was stopped in the right lane of a highway near the town of Starke, according to an FHP media release. The FHP estimated damages of $45,000 to the 1995 truck and $65,000 to the 2008 school bus. Bradford County Sheriff spokesman Brad Smith said first responders at the scene found the woman outside the truck naked except for a bra. He said the driver was fully clothed. Bryan said two children remained hospitalized as of Tuesday night. The Fords and bus driver Jennifer Swanson also were treated at hospitals. At least four motorists in two counties had reported the log truck driving erratically, with one in Nassau County telling dispatchers three hours before the crash that the truck was running red lights, a Nassau County sheriff's report said. The Nassau sheriff's records manager Mary Mercer said their deputy stopped the truck but did not file a report after a highway trooper arrived on the scene. Shannon Ford was served with a correction notice for several problems including a broken light, Bryan said. Statements by the Fords, who live in Interlachen about 30 miles from the accident scene, will be released after the investigation is completed, Bryan said, noting that charges are pending. (Reporting by David Adams; Editing by Richard Chang)